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Sunday, September 29, 2013

This was another full weekend. We had such a huge range of emotions and experiences. I spoke earlier about a warm, sweet man named Eugene, and his sudden passing. We went to Eugene's visitation on Friday evening to pay our respects and to let his wife and children know, that like the rest of our school community, we are there for them. It was unbelievably sad. Almost too much to understand.

I was glad though, to see so many school families there, including our head of school and his wife. We are committed as a group to do whatever we can to help this kind-hearted family.

Early on Friday I was driving down the street to drop off some dry cleaning for Jon. All of the sudden I was literally stopped in my tracks by the site of this old house, surrounded by a metal fence! It had a sign for a building company. I pulled over, saddened and enraged. I've loved this house for as long as I can remember. It's a great example of an American Vernacular, four-square style house, that somehow came to acquire Corinthian columns and an awesome paint scheme along the way. 99% of the time that metal fence means that a house will be torn down. This street is was full of wonderful historic homes that were torn down one by one, and in their place, huge, monstrous big-foot houses erected. It makes me livid. LIVID! Why must people be so greedy and materialistic and THOUGHTLESS?

If one is so desperate to have a giant house filling up every inch of their lot, to prove to the world that they are WEALTHY, then just go buy an existing giant house, or build one in a subdivision! You DON'T have to greedily tear down a perfectly good historic home that has sat idyllically on the street for over a hundred years, loved by it's owners and those who walk by. HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR HISTORY AND PRESERVATION!!!

I know what you might be thinking, that old homes are often just decrepit pits, but it's bull..... MOST of the time you CAN rehab old homes. I should know, we did it to our house! Our home was even vacant, but I know that this particular house has been lived in and cared for. BESIDES, I'm sure that most rehabs would be MUCH less expensive than buying a house, tearing it down and building a huge, new home in it's place.

This might not earn me any friends, but I think Americans have become more and more greedy and less and less satisfied with what they have. It's very sad.

Ok, calming down....deep breathes.....calming down.........

My father was in town on Friday afternoon. He often stops to see us before catching a flight.

We walked over to Flemings for a quick dinner. Their 5-6-7 deal is great. That's five different appetizers and their burger for just $6 each until 7:00. It was fun.

On Saturday morning we woke nice and early and met our friends at Eastern Market.

It was a bright and sunny. A perfect day for a farmer's market.

Here is just a tiny taste of what we saw.........

In addition to all of the fruits and vegetables that you could EVER want, the market also has a whole slew of artisan merchants. Spices, coffee, tea, jams, meats, popcorn, baked goods, and.....PIEROGIS! :)

We tried the potato and cheese and the artichoke and spinach. Oh my gosh, DELICIOUS!

The sauerkraut also tasted super fresh and peppery. It was great!

Here are our friends enjoying their pierogis too. I love this family. They are the most adventurous, fun-loving and endlessly giving family that I know. I've learned so much from them.

Back to FOOD! The mushroom man is my FAVORITE stall at the market. This is a woody mushroom medley . Picture does not do it justice... fresh shiitake, chanterelle, and portobello.

Noah brought home his first mini-cactus! They had such a variety.

We also came home with THE MOST delicious, MOST FLAVORFUL, lush grapes that I have EVER tasted. WHO KNEW that grapes could actually taste like grape candy and grape juice!? These are Michigan-grown Concord grapes. I've never hand them before. LIFE CHANGING!!!!

Also, these tiny cherry tomatoes. Oh my gosh, they are little bits of CANDY! So sweet and fresh and incredible. Bonus, they're local and organic!

This is the problem with Eastern Market though.... they have desserts. I couldn't help it. Since I was gluten-free for an entire year, it's been a long long time since I tried one of my favorites, the Amish women's table of baked goods. These whoopee pies are beyond good. They are crazy good. You can't resist!

We also bought two, little tiny pies. They're so cute, about the size of you palm or so. One is " Lemon Chess Pie" which tasted like delicious lemon curd, and a spicy sweet potato pie. AHHH sooooo good!

You better believe that I upped the speed and intensity on my treadmill today!

After coming home from the market, a very joyous thing occurred. Our old Buddy C. came over!!!

C. is now fourteen, and he has a very busy life with school and friends, which we naturally understand. Noah gets it, but it's been hard for him to see their visits grow fewer and farther in-between. (C. began coming around the block to play when he was just a tiny bit older than Noah!)

It is always great to have C. over. He is sweet and brilliant and the nicest, caring kid. I can't believe how much he has grown, and how quickly. It's bittersweet, and reminds me that one day soon, Noah too will be fourteen and not a little little boy anymore.

Jon and I dropped C. and Noah off at a free Lego building event. After that they came home and did a whole bunch of things like Minecraft, and going to a nearby park to play tag.

They also made Lego boats and floated them in the mini-pool.

Meanwhile, Willow and I were really enjoying one of the last warm days before fall really starts.

After a fun pizza dinner, Noah and C. made cardboard boats from the pizza box and tape.

Although Noah quickly became board and made a tape beard and mustache ......

Their C.'s boat turned out great, and it floats!

Our big, old Wisteria vine made a seed pod! It feels softer than the finest velvet. It's huge and SO cool!

Sunday was full too. I know that the coming week will be very busy with a bunch of things, so we needed to get a lot done today. Jon had to rake and cut out some sadly brown parts of our lawn, and then lay down top soil and re-seed. Apparently there had been some old roots that were decaying and causing some kind of disturbance. Hence the brown, spotting lawn.

We have friends coming tomorrow, so I was sure to clean the house, downstairs and upstairs. That took a while. I did laundry too! Oh! And I still need to get the ironing done. Sometimes this feels like a lot, but are you like me? When it's all done, do you say: "AAAAAAahhhhhhhhh" too? It's a good feeling to accomplish what you set out to do!

One thing that I did today was schedule an Easter Seals pick-up for some clothes that I'd like to donate. I received a message from them that they would be in our area doing pick-ups on Thursday. My goal is to go through a whole bunch of things this week, and see what else I can donate.

I also made a meal plan for the week, and a shopping list. When I came home from the grocery store, Hector took his usually trip into one of the bags. He's so cute! Hector makes me smile and laugh every single day!

I was feeling sad about Priya today. I vacuumed a spot where she loved to lay. Priya was so brave, not even the vacuum would scare her. I miss that girl....

Here is the part that I feel very guilty about. Every single year, for the past five, we've gone to our annual school picnic. This year....we didn't make it. :(

I knew that I had so much to do today, and we thought we'd go if we got it all done in time, but by the time everything was done, the picnic was almost over.

I'm sorry that we missed it. School spirit is important.

In the late afternoon we decided to take a walk in the woods. It was raining, but it kind of added to it!

Noah insisted on bringing this loud horn thing. He said that he felt like the BFG!

Jon and I brought the umbrellas.

I guess if he's going to blow that horn, the empty forest is as good as any place. At least for a few minutes......

Look! The fall leaves are starting!!!

As I've mentioned before, I can't believe that we can see both this natural beauty and a small city in the same place. Seconds from our door. I really enjoy it.

Noah and I went inside and old tree! I felt like a gnome. It was really cool exciting for me.

After the woods, we walked into town for a coffee. It was still raining, but I didn't mind.

Then, Jon made us dinner!

We wanted to use the produce that we bought yesterday at the market, so.......

Mushroom risotto with an egg and some Parmesan sprinkled on top. The sides were peas, the tiny cherry tomatoes, and those amazing Concord grapes! It was wonderful.

3 comments:

Thanks for the comment. I wonder if a community education project on local history and preservation would change a few minds. That or resources to find lots and building sites that did not have livable historic homes and buildings on them.It makes me so incredibly sad and angry. :(

A good read as always! That is a shame about the old house. I was by one in the city the other day and was delighted to see that instead of tearing it down, a condo development had incorporated it right into their new building. It looked really neat. Of course, not something you'd want on your street, but on a busy urban street it was the best of both worlds.

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